This Drug Is More Harmful Than Heroin, Experts Say

“Alcohol More Dangerous Than Heroin, Study Finds.” Wow, that’s quite a headline. I came across it online while reading about recently published health research. Based on a British abstract study of various drugs (such as cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, marijuana, and alcohol), the research assessed the effects that these substances have on individuals and on our society.

The researchers looked at the addictive potential of each substance, harmful physical effects to users, emotional/functional costs of substance use to family systems, and financial costs to society for such things as health care, social services, and prison.

Their conclusions? The most severe effects on individual users came from heroin, crack cocaine, and crystal meth (methamphetamine). Social costs were greatest from the use of alcohol, heroin, and crack cocaine. But, when all parameters were considered as a total package, alcohol was at the top of the list, causing the greatest combination of overall individual physical disability, as well as widespread social dysfunction. The next substances on the ranking were heroin and crack cocaine, with marijuana, ecstasy and LSD lower in rank.

It’s possible that alcohol’s rank comes in part due to our society’s acceptance of both alcohol use and abuse, the ready availability of alcohol, and the devastating effects of excess alcohol on nearly every organ system.

I worry most about the effect of alcohol on teenagers. Some of the costs of alcohol use among younger users include an increased risk of:

Depression, anxiety, and attention problems

Alcoholism – the younger the drinker, the higher the risk of that individual eventually becoming addicted

Injury or death in motor vehicle accidents, as well as increased risk of violent death from other causes

Suicide attempts in girls who drink

Risky sexual practices (including earlier age of sexual activity, and higher risks of unprotected sex and sex with strangers)

Other drug use (including marijuana, cocaine, heroin)

It’s hard to battle alcohol use among teenagers – our society as a whole seems to deem excess alcohol use as benign and amusing. Media images of drunkenness are often funny gags. Alcohol is touted as a reward for a long workweek, a social lubricant, and a way to deal with stress. Teens see these images on TV and in movies, and around them in the real-life behavior of their parents and other adults.

Our schools try to educate our teens about alcohol use and abuse, but we all need to join their efforts. We adults need to lead by modeling responsible alcohol use, by refusing to be amused by drunkenness, and by making it clear that underage drinking is wrong not just because it is illegal, but because it is potentially seriously harmful to the underage drinker.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rosalyn Carson-DeWitt, MD

Rosalyn Carson-DeWitt, MD integrates an undergraduate English degree from Kalamazoo College and a medical degree from Michigan State University in her work as a medical writer, editor, and consultant. She...read more